I thought I'd seen it all in this election. I was wrong, though, because a couple days ago, Sarah Palin opened her mouth again. The former running mate to John McCain spoke at a Trump rally (big surprise) in Oklahoma to endorse the Republican hopeful. That same day, her son, Track Palin, was arrested on weapons and domestic charges when he reportedly attacked his girlfriend.
Before I go any further, I must make clear that this article is not an attack on gun owners. The reason for this is because of a recent article I had written on the president's gun control laws he wishes to have passed via Executive Order and how I stressed he was not going to take guns away from law-abiding citizens. It turns out some people don't know how to read and attacked me for my views. That is not the point of this article.
What I will be attacking is Palin's remarks in regards to her son's actions. Track is a combat veteran of the Second Iraq War and, as mentioned before, was arrested for beating his girlfriend and threatening suicide with an AR-15 rifle. The former governor of Alaska had the audacity to lay the blame for her son's actions on his post-traumatic stress and even at the feet of President Obama. She accused the President of not being empathetic towards returning Veterans. "It starts from the top, the question, though, that comes from our own president, where they have to look at him and wonder, 'Do you know what we have to go through?'" Here's the link to the video of Palin's speech. I want you, if you choose to watch, to note that she never once names the true victim, the girlfriend. Instead, she labels her son as the victim.
First of all, I find it ironic how she is openly bashing a president for not respecting Veterans of American wars even though Obama signed a bipartisan bill just last year that gave returning veterans suffering from PTSD access to quality mental health care should they need it. It's also mind boggling to realize that she's endorsing a guy for president who has openly disrespected veterans, including John McCain, who was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam War.
If President Obama is to be condemned for the PTSD of Track Palin and others, then I blame President Bush for the PTSD of all veterans returning from Afghanistan and Iraq between 2001 and 2008. I blame Presidents LBJ and Nixon for the PTSD of those who fought in Vietnam. I blame them for the death of my cousin, a Vietnam War army veteran, who died in May 2015 as a result of his PTSD. See how unreasonable and stupid that all sounds? This is why I don't actually blame the presidents for the PTSD of our service men and women. Palin, in blaming her son's actions on PTSD, is politicizing a real issue and painting a picture that all returning veterans are going to inflict harm on others.
Brandon Friedman, former digital media director for the Department of Veterans Affairs, condemned Palin's words, as many veterans have done. Yes, those returning from war are likely to cause domestic issues, but they are more likely to do harm to themselves rather than to others. He took to Twitter with his frustrations: "I absolutely hate that PTSD is trending because Sarah Palin blamed it for her son's violent assault on his girlfriend."
A 2012 report stated that over 8,000 veterans committed suicide that year, which averages out to about 22 veteran suicides a day. Though this number is way, way too high, thousands more have lived because they have sought help, many at the wish of their loved ones. Instead of politicizing this and finding another reason to brainwash the American people with hatred for Obama, Palin could have been a mother first, a politician second, and sought help for her son. This is how low many are willing to go, and it comes to no surprise that she said these things the same day she endorsed Donald Trump for President of the United States.
